Indiana OWI Laws

Indiana’s per-se limit is 0.08: operating with an alcohol concentration equivalent of 0.08 or more is operating while intoxicated (OWI). But 0.08 is not the whole law. Indiana can also charge you for operating while intoxicated by any substance with no test result, and for operating with a schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in your blood. Commercial drivers are limited to 0.04, and drivers under 21 to 0.02.

A first OWI is a misdemeanor. At an alcohol concentration equivalent of 0.08 to less than 0.15, or when operating while intoxicated, it is a Class C misdemeanor (up to 60 days and up to $500). At 0.15 or more, or if the driving endangered a person, it is a Class A misdemeanor (up to one year and up to $5,000). There is no mandatory minimum jail on a true first offense, but a failed chemical test brings a 180-day license suspension and the court can suspend your license for up to the offense’s maximum jail term.

An alcohol concentration equivalent of 0.15 or more is a Class A misdemeanor, a full step up from the Class C misdemeanor that applies at 0.08 to 0.15. That raises the maximum penalties from 60 days and $500 to one year and $5,000. If a passenger under 18 was in the vehicle and the driver is 21 or older, a 0.15-or-more offense becomes a Level 6 felony even on a first offense.

A new OWI with a prior OWI conviction within the past 7 years is a Level 6 felony: a fixed term of 6 months to 2.5 years and a fine up to $10,000. At least 5 days must be served and cannot be suspended (or the court may order 240 hours of community restitution). If your only prior OWI is older than 7 years, the new charge is a misdemeanor rather than a felony, but that 5-day executed minimum still applies.

A third OWI is charged on the same Level 6 felony framework, and once you have two or more priors at least 10 days must be served (or 480 hours of community restitution). Indiana escalates repeat offenders mainly through the habitual vehicular substance offender status: with two prior OWI convictions (one within 10 years) or three or more at any time, the court adds a consecutive prison term of 1 to 8 years on top of the underlying sentence. That can push total exposure well beyond the 2.5-year Level 6 ceiling.

An OWI is a felony when any of these apply: a prior OWI conviction within 7 years (Level 6 felony); a driver 21 or older with a passenger under 18 while committing a high-BAC, drug, or endangering OWI (Level 6 felony, even on a first offense); a prior conviction for OWI causing serious bodily injury, death, or catastrophic injury, which raises a new OWI to a Level 5 felony no matter how old that prior conviction is; causing serious bodily injury (Level 5, or Level 4 with a prior OWI within 5 years); or causing death or catastrophic injury (Level 4). A Level 6 felony is punishable by 6 months to 2.5 years, a Level 5 by 1 to 6 years, and a Level 4 by 2 to 12 years.

Indiana uses several different windows. A prior OWI within 7 years turns a new OWI into a Level 6 felony. A prior within 5 years raises an OWI causing serious bodily injury to a Level 4 felony. The habitual vehicular substance offender enhancement counts two priors (one within 10 years) or three or more at any point in your life, and the habitual traffic violator license forfeiture counts qualifying judgments within a 10-year period.

Indiana does not set a single fixed suspension length. If a chemical test shows a prohibited concentration, the BMV imposes a 180-day administrative suspension; a refusal is a one-year suspension (two years with a prior OWI). On conviction, the court may suspend your license for up to the maximum jail term for the offense class. A suspended driver can petition the court for specialized driving privileges.

Not automatically. Indiana has no mandatory ignition interlock on conviction. Instead, a court may order an interlock as a condition of specialized driving privileges, or as a pretrial alternative to having your license suspended while the case is pending. Some employer-owned-vehicle situations are exempt.

Refusing is not a separate crime, but it triggers a one-year license suspension — two years if you have a prior OWI conviction — and the refusal can be used against you at trial. A refusal-based suspension is generally not eligible for specialized driving privileges, although a court may still allow driving with an ignition interlock. Different rules apply after a crash that seriously injures or kills someone: refusing a test in that situation is itself a civil infraction with its own one- or two-year court-ordered suspension.

A driver under 21 who operates with an alcohol concentration equivalent of 0.02 or more but less than 0.08 commits a Class C infraction — a civil violation, not a crime — and the court may recommend a license suspension of up to one year. At 0.08 or more, the under-21 driver faces the ordinary adult OWI charge instead. Indiana has no separate under-21 test-refusal offense: an under-21 driver who refuses is subject to the general implied-consent suspension of one year (two years with a prior OWI).

Yes, in two ways. Operating with a schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in your blood is a crime regardless of whether you were impaired, and operating while actually intoxicated by any drug is also an OWI. Indiana has no numeric THC limit. There is a defense for a valid prescription, and a narrow marijuana-metabolite defense if you were not intoxicated, caused no accident, and the substance was identified by a chemical test.

Causing serious bodily injury while OWI is a Level 5 felony, or a Level 4 felony if you have a prior OWI within 5 years. Causing death or catastrophic injury is a Level 4 felony, and each victim is a separate charge. Separately, operating with a passenger under 18 while committing a high-BAC, drug, or endangering OWI is a Level 6 felony even on a first offense.